I believe Tag is having them painted on, so it will go around the side marker, and should have no break at the body lines from front fascia to fender.

Hmm. I think there's still gotta' be at least a small break between the panels. The paint isn't going to fill that gap in, unfortunately. If there were a glaring problem with this car, asthetically, for me, it would be those panel lines. There's just nothing one can do, that I can think of, to make up for that gap :( No biggie though.

Tag' - is THR going to remove the front bumper cover for the paint by chance? If they do that, then they could carry the color of the stripes into the gap itself, on both the facia and the fenders. Painting them on the car is going to be messy and that basecoat is just going to blow into the gap and run. I'm sure they've gotta' be removing the cover. That being the case, you won't have a break at those gaps that'll be too noticable, IMHO.

I keep watching those videos and think to myself that I might have to pizz the wifey off and get LTs, LOL! GAWD - that thing sounds cool!

Hmm. I think there's still gotta' be at least a small break between the panels. The paint isn't going to fill that gap in, unfortunately. If there were a glaring problem with this car, asthetically, for me, it would be those panel lines. There's just nothing one can do, that I can think of, to make up for that gap :( No biggie though.

Tag' - is THR going to remove the front bumper cover for the paint by chance? If they do that, then they could carry the color of the stripes into the gap itself, on both the facia and the fenders. Painting them on the car is going to be messy and that basecoat is just going to blow into the gap and run. I'm sure they've gotta' be removing the cover. That being the case, you won't have a break at those gaps that'll be too noticable, IMHO.

I keep watching those videos and think to myself that I might have to pizz the wifey off and get LTs, LOL! GAWD - that thing sounds cool!

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You don't need to remove the bumper... Any good paint gun breaks down the paint into such a fine mist that would not be an issue, hell even a rattle can wouldn't have that problem. You will not see any gap with the original paint behind it at the front bumper cover & fender, those touch. It's not a gap like around the doors, hood, or trunk. Sure on those you would have a gap, but there's nothing at all you can do about them looking dark behind a light color stripe. Just look at a light colored car, the entire car is painted in pieces but you still see dark in the gaps, just because the light isn't getting in there to show there's white behind it (or at least not enough to where it looks the same as the rest of the car).

You will see a slight line where the fender and front bumper meet due to the edge being ever so slightly rounded at the end of the panel, causing the paint to reflect light in a slightly different manner, but you will not see the factory paint color behind it.

For example, here's a silver car, you can barely see the line at the front bumper cover, but it's just because of the light reflection, it's not actually a gap like around the doors where you see dark behind it. And remember even on the door gap, that's the same silver color behind it, it's just darker because of the lack of light coming out of the gap.

And here's a good example of what I mean by the different lighting, both picts are of the same car, same camera, just 2 slightly different angles. The first you really have to look to tell where the line is, the 2nd is obvious just because of the light being reflected slightly differently. It's still all painted silver, no gap, but at that angle of light reflection you see the line easily now.

With all do respect - I disagree. The pictures posted are not from the same angles and distances from the camera as the ones in this post (not to mention the appearance of that gap changes significantly with respect to camera angle). In addition, that urethane and metal are going to contract/flex/expand at different rates - it might look good for a little while, but probably won't last a substantial amount of time. Cracks are going to form and that paint (clearcoat and maybe basecoat) is likely to start to flake. The color of the stripe and the car is also likely to play at least a small role in the optical illusion in the gap of the stripe too. A darker car will hide the gap better while the opposite for a lighter color. Likewise for the color of the stripes. The only way, to my understanding, to get this to work on other gaps between the panels on the car (i.e. like fenders, doors, quarter panels, hood and trunk gaps, etc.) would be to backtape or use something like 3M™ Soft Edge Foam Masking Tape; neither of those would likely work or be practical in this specific instance though.

The bottom line is, the correct way to paint a bumper cover, to insure complete clearcoat coverage, is off the car, just like at the factory. They don't paint the car with the bumper covers on - at least in any shot I've ever seen. I-Car, Tech-Cor, PPG, Dupont, and others say this too to my recollection. There's just not enough room to get the paint gun in the gap to get the clearcoat around the edges.

Or, go to a bodyshop that does quality paint and ask them what the correct way is, and how that paint would lay down in that gap if the facia is left on there. If you ask me, and how I wrote things (and even how insurance companies wrote things; and yes, FWIW - I worked at a bodyshop for more than five years and a dealership five years before that, writing estimates and controlling repairs on all my customer's cars) one might find an agreement with me. But I digress...

I'm sure Tag' and THR have worked all of this out I didn't mean to sidetrack, but I think there are some things to think about and consider

With all do respect - I disagree. The pictures posted are not from the same angles and distances from the camera as the ones in this post (not to mention the appearance of that gap changes significantly with respect to camera angle). In addition, that urethane and metal are going to contract/flex/expand at different rates - it might look good for a little while, but probably won't last a substantial amount of time. Cracks are going to form and that paint (clearcoat and maybe basecoat) is likely to start to flake. The color of the stripe and the car is also likely to play at least a small role in the optical illusion in the gap of the stripe too. A darker car will hide the gap better while the opposite for a lighter color. Likewise for the color of the stripes. The only way, to my understanding, to get this to work on other gaps between the panels on the car (i.e. like fenders, doors, quarter panels, hood and trunk gaps, etc.) would be to backtape or use something like 3M™ Soft Edge Foam Masking Tape; neither of those would likely work or be practical in this specific instance though.

The bottom line is, the correct way to paint a bumper cover, to insure complete clearcoat coverage, is off the car, just like at the factory. They don't paint the car with the bumper covers on - at least in any shot I've ever seen. I-Car, Tech-Cor, PPG, Dupont, and others say this too to my recollection. There's just not enough room to get the paint gun in the gap to get the clearcoat around the edges.

Or, go to a bodyshop that does quality paint and ask them what the correct way is, and how that paint would lay down in that gap if the facia is left on there. If you ask me, and how I wrote things (and even how insurance companies wrote things) one might find an agreement with me. But I digress...

I'm sure Tag' and THR have worked all of this out I didn't mean to sidetrack, but I think there are some things to think about and consider

Well everyone on the internet is an expert at everything these days (including myself of course ), I can only say that I've seen 3 2010 Camaros in person, and you probably couldn't stick your thumbnail in the gap between the fender and front bumper cover (past the extremely slightly rounded edges of the panels).

I don't want to Tag's wonderful journal any more than we already have, but that was the main point I was attempting to make. I've spent my share of time hanging around in multiple reputable body shops (including some factory ones, my dad sold one of his '70 Challengers to the manager a long time ago, we've been family friends since & his old boss who introduced us to him now owns his own repair shop) & don't think I've ever seen them pull a panel for just stripes, it wouldn't surprise me if some do though. But it's not necessary for this particular panel junction on solely a paint coverage standpoint. I've seen them do all kinds of tricks repairing & painting cars, but I never paid attention if they do anything when painting panels on modern cars that are so close they touch like that.

Isn't one of the guys I've seen around a few times on the board a professional body/paint guy? I'm sure he knows the answer to that, but as far as Tag & this thread are concerned...

Quote:

Originally Posted by TAG UR IT

I don't know if they will be removing the front clip. I would think so, but I'm sure they aren't going to do a half @ssed job either.

Tag please feel free to delete any of my posts on this subject to clean up your thread. I'm not curious enough to post a new one to ask the real pro's since it's not happening to my car any time soon But feel free to toss it in a new one if you're curious, or I'll move them over if someone else does.

Man, I cannot believe how those exhaust guys drove your car that hard before break in........ not trying to make you feel bad, but I would have made them by me a new one...no BS. That is the worst thing to do before break in!

My car will not leave my site until broken in.

This is actually quite valid for doing breakin on a car these days. I am NOT condoning someone else doing it, but this is how I have broken in my bikes and race vehicles for the past couple of years of hearing about it. My 'stock' Cobalt w/ Stage 2 dyno'ed 15hp above what GM said it should be and was the subject of a couple of investigations by GM engineers who could not find any explanation for why it would do this.